DAY 1
SO today marks day 1 of my 4 and half month course of Roaccutane. 54kg female - starting dose 30mg per day of Roche Roaccuane (very pleased to get original manufacturer) going up to 60mg per day month 2 and the rest of the course. Today has been quite emotional for me, my acne was sudden onset - well slowly got worse since September 2016 but where its on my neck now and doesn't seem to be going anywhere its made very feel very low because whether I put make up on or wear a scarf it seems to break me out more so ive become a hermit in the house in constant fear of how I may be potentially making my skin worse. I have back acne as well which has been manageable until this year. My cheeks are clear but its mainly my T zone, a little jawline but mainly under jawline and actual neck. I cried taking my first dose - I guess relief of starting, hope it will work, fear it wont work, scared of side effects but mainly because of how bad this acne has ruined all my self esteem and confidence which I always had quite good self esteem and confidence before. Knowing I'm going to have this shitty scarring on my neck for months is downer because like I said I cant cover it up. shame its summer here inthe uk tbh and I normally love summer.
Nothing is enjoyable anymore. washing is a procedure of desperation trying to prevent more acne, make up looks horrible and is annoying to now and I used to love getting ready in the morning. Anyways on a positive I know its going to be a hard 4.5months but worth it to get my life back.
I'm not brave enough to put pics up yet....maybe one day.
DAY 2
Nothing remarkable to report. No side effects at all, well I had a weird prickly heat sensation over my shoulders an hour after taking todays dose but at this stage who knows what is a side effect and whats just what would happen anyways. Inside of my nose feels dry, but again I don't know if that's just because ive had the central heating on because my lips aren't dry at all and I thought the lips went before the inside of the nose??
Popped two spots today on my face - I tried the no popping life and tbh it doesn't seem to make a difference on the mark it leaves when its an inflamed pustule. just a white head yeh because no point turning a dot into a 1cm smear. The only ones I don't pop is my neck ones as I really don't want extra inflammation in that region. They look fucking disgusting and I hate them.
I really want to dry out now, I feel like I need some respite from sebum....hopefully this week a some point.
Stats -
One active spot coming up on face
One very large pustule under right jawline
5 white heads of left neck - two possible spots in middle of neck??
popped spot on right shoulder
some spots coming up on upper back - great.
yeah I'm anticipating that will happen, tbh I would rather assume the worst and be prepared than expect nothing and be upset...although I know ill be upset when it happens lol only place I'm worried about breaking out bad is my neck because its just a bastard to cover up and its summer here in the uk and that's the place my acne upset me the most as ive never had neck acne before.
DAY 3
Horrible spot under my jawline drained overnight. I put tooth paste on the head as I didn't want the puss to travel while I was sleeping - wiped toothpaste of this morning and gone was contents with some light assistance. I don't know why something so red warrants such little puss in comparison to the spot? gonna be awhile before that mark fades....lovely.
I am sweating a lot! its warm here in the uk but my palms are real sweaty andI did feel a little feverish at one point - didn't sleep much last night so putting it down to tiredness at the moment.
Inside nose is defo dryer but not so dry it warrants Vaseline yet. Lips are fine. Skin feels dry and oily at the same time. really looking forward to becoming dry although after 4 and half months I'm sure I wont be saying that.
I just want my skin back. I don't care about a couple of zits here and there but the acne in my neck needs to die and Accutane is the man. I only wash my neck with water because getting products on my neck caused the acne in the first place and I don't want to rely on products in that area for life as I always 'caveman'ed' that area and will thoughtout the course. face is doing well with acne products still so ill play it by here.
DAY 4 and 5
So side effect wise I think oil is definitely decreasing. I moisturised my face yesterday and within 5 minututes it was like my face ate it up and I had to apply a second layer, luckily I'm using a gel based non comeodegenic one or that would have felt insane right now.Skin is a lot dryer for sure so I backed off the acne face wash last night and used onefor dry sensitive skin, but used my salicylic acid toner which is alcohol free so doesn't burn. I washed myhair yesterday and today it was slightly oily so used a tadof dry shampoo, normally I need a lot of dry shampoo lol so was cool to see that. I feel well in myself and lips are still ok.
thought I had a big one coming up last night on corner of mouth but this morning it was tiny white head that just wiped off with a toner. got some tiny white heads on my jawline today and some spots have come to a head on my forehead. got a painful one coming up on my forehead as well. My neck seems to have all these clogs coming out which is great because there not spots but micro white heads which I'm just leaving to fall out on their own as that's my problem area at the moment.
I'm stoked to be on this treatment but it dawned on me its day 5 of 134 so have a lot yet to come and my neck is bad and getting me down to the point I don't leave the house much at the moment - a voice in my head keeps telling me '2 months' - maybe that's when it will start looking better. A lot of it is old marks on one side, and the other is red looking where I had a lot of tiny pimples so the whole thing looks a mess really. trying to stay positive x
DAY 6
So weird my skin looks so dry if you look at it close but the oil is just unbelievable!!! I even have oily cheeks which I am T zone oily so that is really oily. I'm wondering if I should wear make up next few days as I'm sure that's just making it harder for oil to get out?? but tbh I think on Accutane its just the name of the game.
I am definitely purgingat the moment. lots ofsingle pore white heads and clogged pores coming out as well, which I think is weird considering I'm still in the oily before dry stage???? I don't know as I'm new to all this. new horrible spots inbetween my eye brows.
Two lovely white heads on my neck and onein waiting. Some stuff brewing in my chin.
been thinking about asking my derm for a higher dose next time I see him. I seen lots of girls similar build to me on 60mg for 6 months with back acne, which I have too and ill only be on 60mg for 3 and half months after this month on 30mg per day. I have a holiday in November and don't want to extend any potential treatment time. I don't know if he will go for it but I will push for sure.
You can definitely ask your dermatologist to if you feel you want to increase your dose, it just depends how well you tolerate the higher amounts. Bloods and keeping your side effects in check will give you some idea how your body is coping with the dose. Best of luck.
a. x